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"Lack of ports"

"quite heavy?"

"mono speakers"

"No expandable memory"

What a great product! Amazing!

I bought The iPad 3rd gen 16GB White WiFi and Cellular, when it first came out.

Plus points:

Retina Display: Nothing beats the screen resolution of the new iPad and this it is a pleasure to read on. It like reading a magazine which is backlit. It is surprisingly not stressful on the eyes. The best reading experience after my Kindle e-ink reader.

Apps: The applications you have for iOS are top notch. And thus makes the iPad very versatile. I work full time and study part time thus I like to read my study books whenever I can. With Dropbox and GoodReader I can sync my last reading page, annotations, etc of various documents mainly PDFs and thus have a seamless experience when I change from my deskstop to iPad and vice versa. Hence having the cellular network helps a lot.

Third part accessories: iPad has the most comprehensive support of cases, styli, accessories, you name it!

Battery life: I do not use the iPad for gaming or watching videos. I use it for reading, RSS feed, Skype calls and more reading. And believe me I get 2 days out of a single charge! Best of the lot. The stand by time is awesome as well, there is so little battery used during stand by that the battery level hardly decreases as compared to other tablets.

Drawbacks:

Lack of ports, no expandable memory, mono speakers. People seem to complain about the weight but I am alright with it.

Overall:
The battery life is amazing! stand by time is awesome, drains 2% in 3 hours. WiFi is awlays on, is clever to switch it on when in a known WiFi network. I was apprehensive about leaving WiFi on all the time but now I do leave it switched on. When I play Real Racing 2 HD on it the device gets warm/hot, whichever way you put it. But it does not do any harm to your fingers because of the temperature, it is just that all the clyinders under the hood were firing to give you a smoother experience.

On my trip to Liverpool I charged the iPad and started my day at 9:00. 3 hours outward journey the iPad was used for locating restaurants in Liverpool and reading up! It was used during my few hours stay in Liverpool on and off. While coming back to London the iPad was used continuously used to listen to music and watch some videos and messaging using Skype. When I reached home at 23:30 the battery left was 64%! I don't have to say anything more about this versatile workhorse.

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A great on the g product for anyone wanting to use for work or play or both.

I think most people know how good Apple is and how quick they move their products to a new level. The iPad 3 is great for everything almost. I use it for shopping, browsing, social networking, blogging, playing games, taking pictures and maps.The camera quality is very good, the images are clear and well-detailed. Then moving them on to social networking sites is easier then ever.Apps are very easy to find, download and use. The quality for apps and games in particular is high quality. The colour is beautiful ad the effects work very well.Sending emails and typing generally is pretty easy. Not as easy as using a physical keyboard but easy to use. Sometimes the auto correct spelling is a pain but most of the time it uses the correct word I want so I haven't turned it off.Sound wise it is pretty good, the volume button is easily located and the volume goes to a easy listening loud volume and there is no interference, everything is pretty clear.A downside for Apple products in general is not being able to download flash as a lot of websites need it such as online bingo. It would be nice to be able to play bingo on the iPad.Siri is a pretty good feature, I use it mainly for messing around, and it is funny when Siri doesn't understand what you say all the time. I understand this can be annoying for people who want to use it seriously, so I do think Siri could be improved.A great feature is the Google Maps app. I cannot remember if this came with the iPad but I would recommend getting it either way. The maps are clear and easy to read. I am terrible with maps but the iPad makes it easier.Overall I think it anyone is using an iPad for business or pleasure I would highly recommend. I wouldn't choose it over a family computer but as a on the go device for fun and work, it is great.

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Very good product, and value for money

Myself and my fiance purchased a 32gb iPad3 around one year ago now direct from Apple, and I must say she has certainly found more use for it than me! I watch quite a bit of Sports over the internet, but little did I know that most of the sites required Flash Player to be installed, and unfortunately since Apple don't install the Flash Player on the iPad3 then this meant I couldn't utilise the product for this.

However for general browsing of the Internet, the product is truely excellent and very easy to use once you get the knack of not having a keyboard (touch phone users should find this an easy transition), and multiple browser sessions can be opened at the same time as with all other Internet 7+ software. I also particularly like the ability to download apps for things such as YouTube (though beward that not all normal YouTube content is available on the app) and also SkyGo - which allows you to watch the TV you have subsribed to through Sky on your device anywhere in the UK (note this doesn't work outside of the UK).

One further aspect of note, is the ability to add web pages into a "Reading Pane" in the Internet Browser, this allows you to save web pages if you don't have time to read through them, and you can then re-open them and go back to finish reading them at a later date - very handy for keeping abreast of the news or particular articles of interest.

The product itself was purchased direct from the Apple store (£320 approx.), and a useful addition was the Apple cover (further £15-20) which provides excellent protection from damage or marks onto the screen (cover is magnetic to the iPad) - you can also purchase different types of covers or bags to protect the iPad, just make sure you ask in store at the time of purchase as they tend to offer discounts when purchasing the tablet at the same time. The iPad3 is available at most major electrical stores such as Comet, PC World etc., or can be purchased online or direct from Apple as we did. Touchscreen technology is excellent, neither too over sensitive or un-responsive. There are a couple of options as to what kind of iPad3 you purchase, you can get either a 3G or 4G version, we chose 3G which allows us to connect to our wifi networks at home and when away (where networks are available).

All in all, a very good buy for me and my fiance (watching football aside!) and very good value for money versus buying a laptop and also much handier for taking with you on holidays, out and about etc.

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A superb product at a fair price point

INTRODUCTIONI took the plunge back in June to purchase a 3rd gen iPad for my leisure life, as well as for business use. In a nutshell, I absolutely adore this product, and it really makes your life easier, doing everything I need it to.

DESIGN, DISPLAYThe iPad is stunning when you look at it, the large Retina display screen is HD Quality and is a pleasure to look at. The silver metal reverse combined with the black surround is professional looking. Unfortunately the iPad is quite heavy and can require two handed operation. I also notice that if one uses the iPad for an extended period of time, perhaps over 3 hours, you will notice the reverse, towards the 30pin dock connection, becoming quite warm to the touch.

FEATURESThis iPad has a camera on the front for faceTime, which although is not great quality, does serve its purpose and allows communication quite clearly. The rear camera is good quality and the shutter speed is quick. Although the problem is not the quality, it's more the practicality, I think it's fantastic Apple put a good camera on here, but I'm not sure you're going to walk around on a Saturday night, taking pics with your iPad - it's just too big!The safari browser is good, and you can open up multiple tabs, as opposed to windows or pages in the iPhone allowing you to swap between them easily.Facebook and Twitter have been integrated into the operating system ios6, which means you can post pictures and use siri (in ios6) to post a status, without opening up the Twitter or FB apps.

BATTERY LIFEThe battery is really great and easily lasts a few days of moderate use, although the charging takes a while and it is better to charge in the evening and over night.

SUMMARY AND PRICEFor under £550 you can get an excellent tablet, which in my opinion can do away with a PC or laptop (provided you do not need flash, or do a lot of word processing). I would recommend it to anyone!

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One of my most fun purchases of the last year.

Okay, I have a confession to make: I never liked iPads. Look at them, with their great big silly screens. Sat there telling you how sleek and portable they are - have you ever tried to carry an iPad for any length of time? Nightmare. You can't carry them around with you. And don't get me started on how difficult is must be to type anything significant without a proper physical keyboard. Who would want to subject themselves to all of that? Well... me, as it turns out. I got sucked in by Apple's pretty, seductive advertising and threw my cash at them in exchange for a brand new iPad 3. And on this occasion, I'd like to report that I'm happy to stuff my face full of sweet, delicious humble pie.

Apple's latest generation of iPad is their most polished yet, a happy culmination of two years worth of iteration on their previous models. Perhaps the most noticeable improvement--and the one that's certainly been the focus of all of Apple's advertising--is the upgraded screen. For the technically minded, this screen holds over 3 million densely packed pixels, even more than an HD TV. For everyone else, know that it's not just hype: this screen looks incredible. Photos look stunning, text looks crisp, colours look incredibly vivid. It's worth bearing in mind that the screen suffers from reflection issues when used in bright sunlight, but this is something that affects all tablet screens (apart from ones on e-readers such as Amazon's Kindle). Unless you're planning on constantly using your iPad at the beach you'll probably be fine.

So what have you got to gain from an iPad? If you're one of the few people who, like me, never got around to buying a laptop, it's pretty much revolutionary to be able to use what is essentially a fully functioning computer in any room of your house. Even if you already own a laptop, iPads are so much lighter and more comfortable to use in comparison; it's a world away from the experience you're used to. It's an odd sensation to describe, but browsing the Internet using your hands makes you feel closer and more involved with everything you're looking at.

Perhaps the greatest appeal of the iPad is that everyone will get a different experience out of it depending on what they want to use it for. Apple's famed app store provides a wealth of content to suit everyone's needs: want to use it for watching a film on the train into work? Done. For taking notes in a lecture? Easy. As a handheld games console? No problem. This flexibility alone catapults the iPad out of the realms of cheap gimmick and into the strata of genuinely useful gadgets.

Battery life pleasantly surprised me. On a full charge I easily get the full 10 hours that Apple promises in it's advertising. This understandably varies depending on how bright you have the screen; you can get more than 10 hours out of it on the lowest brightness setting, or you can have it really burn your retinas out at the cost of battery life.

Build quality, as with everything from Apple, is superb. You know how laptops have a habit of feeling a bit flimsy and start creaking a bit after you've had them a while? One of the things that first strikes you when you hold an iPad is just how solid it feels. It feels like it's been forged out of one material, as if there's solid rock inside the case rather than dozens of individual components. I'm not scared about throwing it on my bed, or onto the sofa. It just feels too substantial to get damaged. (I should probably mention I'm not planning on testing this theory on anything more challenging. Concrete, for example. I think we all know who'd win that one.)

If you're on the fence about whether you can justify buying an iPad when you've already got a computer: go for it. After a few days you'll wonder what you ever used your laptop for.

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A fantastic product!

After weeks of drooling over pictures and averts of the new Apple iPad, I decided that enough was enough and I did it, I pressed the 'Buy' button on the Network 3 website. It was a hard decision due to the high monthly costs but I knew from that moment that I would not regret the decision. Initially I could not decide whether to order the WiFi model or the 3G model (Or 4G as the new version is known), I fly light aircraft as a hobby and I already knew of many pilots using their iPads up in the sky as a GPS and for this to work a mobile network connection is required, so it was the new iPad 3 with WiFi and cellular connectivity for me! Network 3 were offering the new iPad with their 15GB usage plan for a rather reasonable price of £25 a month with an initial payment of £229 for the 32GB iPad itself, I thought this was a good deal after scouting around the internet looking for a better deal - of which I did not find!

*** Information on the Apple iPad 3 ***

Anyone who's used an iPhone to its full potential will know just how handy the device can be and the iPad is basically a larger version of it with a faster processor and some generally enhanced features. The iPad is a tablet computer that almost does everything needed from a computer. You can browse the internet; use the millions of apps available or even write reviews on Ciao! The iPad 3 is the latest version that boasts a retina display, speedier internet browsing and a few other benefits over the older model. The iPad is a nice size measuring 9.5 x 7.3" and it's very thin measuring 0.37" making it easy to hold and use with its 9.7" display making browsing and navigating easy. The iPad that I chose has a rather large 32GB memory for storing music, pictures, applications etc.

*** Setting the iPad up ***

This job was very easy and the hardest bit was actually getting into the box, the iPad was well packaged and perfectly protected from the battering of Royal Mails postal service. Once the box was opened I was greeted by the lovely looking device, a sim card and a wall charger.... Unfortunately I did not find any earphones inside my package and it seems that Apple do not include them with their iPads, unless Network 3 sneaked them out on entering my SIM card? Nevertheless, I carried on after the earphone issue and all that was required to get the iPad working was to hold the on/off button for a few seconds, answer a few questions that popped up on the screen and I was good to go, wow!

*** Using the iPad ***

The iPad is an absolute joy to use with its responsive touch screen. The new retina display is absolutely gorgeous making websites and images look much better than when viewed on most other devices. The screen responds perfectly to my fingers and it can be controlled with flicks, slides, taps, whacks or whatever I'm in the mood for. I did think that typing would be a challenge while using the on screen keyboard and it sure was at first, but after a few hours of typing away I knew the iPads keyboard perfectly well and it responds perfectly to any input, who needs buttons? Nearly all of the iPads controls are on screen apart from the main button on the bottom of the device that cancels everything on the screen, it's basically an escape all button to take you back to the main menu. The only other buttons on the device are the volume up/down on the side, a silent button to stop the iPad waking you in the night and the on/off button on the top, all of the other commands are done through the touch screen and they all work perfectly.

The iPad has many features as standard such as two built in cameras, a built in speaker and even GPS receivers. The camera is rated at 5MP and it certainly takes some good quality photos showing great detail on the retina display. Photos are easily taken by opening the camera app and tapping the take button, there are plenty of apps available to edit and enhance photos with ease making it a fun yet useful device. I used my iPad to take my holiday photos while we were in Greece this summer, the beauty of the iPad is that a picture can be taken and uploaded to any social website or picture sharing website with ease allowing easy sharing without the usual plugging in of cameras to download pictures. The camera also takes videos of the same high quality and there is no length restriction that I have come across yet, with 32GB of internal memory there's a lot of recording to do. The inbuilt speaker is great for playing videos and music and although the sound is not perfect, it's certainly of a good quality and better than most I have heard in the past.

This new iPad 3 has a built in dual core A5X chip that ensure speedy and reliable performance while preserving battery life. This iPad is super fast in every application and it has yet to crash on me, the web browsing is exceptionally fast and in all honesty, everything works perfectly! This device is faster than my laptop that cost over twice the price of this little iPad.

*** App's etc. ***

There are plenty of apps available for the iPad to keep the user entertained, I've used mine daily for almost 2 months and I'm still finding new apps and games that bring me joy! The most common are Facebook, Twitter, eBay, PayPal, Lloyds TSB, Tesco, Various Cinema's, BBC I player, Sky Go.... There are so many available that offer plenty of great features. The apps allow you to contact friends, watch TV, play any radio station, order food etc. I love the apps for pilots such as navigating, flight planning and general aviation information, not only is this device fun but it can also greatly help in day to day life for many people.

My pilot navigation apps all work perfectly and the iPad can tell the altitude the aircraft is flying at, the groundspeed, the heading by using it's built in electronic compass and many other flight planning readings. My iPad has helped me find airfields that I didn't know existed making my flying more enjoyable and even less stressful. I have also bought a few apps for navigating on the roads, for 69p I have downloaded a full SatNav for use all around the UK and it works perfectly - just as good as any Garmin, TomTom or any other satnav around.

*** Durability, battery life etc. ***

The ipad's front screen area is all made of glass and this did worry me at first resulting in me running to the shops to buy a case for my new baby in case of an accident. The glass is obviously very strong as it's been bashed a few times with various objects due to my clumsy hands, I actually dropped my iPhone straight onto the iPad screen last week while texting someone while not concentrating, the banging noise was quite horrific to hear but my phone bounced straight off the screen without even leaving a mark so this glass must be toughened / strengthened in some way. The back of the iPad appears to be made from aluminum or some other kind of tough but thin metal, this has scratched very slightly on my device but it doesn't affect the use of the iPad in anyway. My screen is still 100% scratch free and it looks as good as new so I'm happy to say that the iPad is rather strong however I doubt that it would survive a fall onto a hard floor without some kind of protection, this would be pushing luck!

Apple claim that the iPad will last around 10 hours of internet browsing on one full charge, obviously this is in perfect conditions, probably with the screen on the lowest brightness setting. I have never had 10 hours of browsing out of my device but I've got close, I generally find that the battery gives me 7 - 8 hours of browsing on low screen settings and I think this is a fabulous battery life for such a large screened device. A full charge generally takes about 4 - 5 hours and I do one of these about twice a week with daily use, the battery lasts longer than any laptop I've owned in the past. I use mine for watching TV, browsing the internet and various other battery draining tasks but it holds up very well.

*** Is it easy to use? ***

The iPad can be a bit daunting at first with all of the fancy buttons to press on screen. Anyone that can use an iPhone will be able to use an iPad with ease as they are very similar. The iPad is very much bigger than an iPhone which makes it much easier to use without the accidental pressing of the wrong buttons every now and then as I find with my iPhone. The menus are easy to navigate and they are nicely set out making the iPad a pleasure to use. The only slight complaint I have is that the device is quite hard to hold without a case fitted, I just can't figure out where to hold the device and I never felt comfortable using the device until I fitted a leather case. It would be nice if they made a slightly smaller iPad but I've heard rumours that a 7" version may be coming out in the next year or so? Time will tell!

*** Overall opinion ***

As you can probably tell, I love my iPad and I don't plan on parting with the beast anytime soon. It has almost replaced my laptop entirely and it's fantastic for reading and rating on Ciao. The web browsing never crashes, never gets slow and it has not let me down in any way yet. I highly recommend the iPad 3 and it's a device that I will continue to upgrade throughout the rest of my life as I simply could not live without it! It has replaced all of my music players, cameras and other media devices; it really is an all in one package. Thank you to Apple for designing such a stunning device.

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Amazing product - best purchase ever!

Buying this, I was no stranger to Apple products but was completely new to the tablet market. I feared that I would not be able to do everything I would like and the lack of flash would hinder my web searches greatly. However, on receiving my tablet, my fears were completely unfounded. The tablet is robust and the 32GB wifi product that I opted for has proved to be the perfect capacity.

My biggest concern was that I was paying a huge amount of money for a glorified toy but having my iPad has increased my productivity levels immensley. I take it to all my lectures as it is small and light enough to fit in my handbag and so saves me a great amount of time handwriting notes which then have to be typed up later.

The camera is an okay quality, could be better but for the amount of use it gets, it's fine and it works well for Facetime and Skype.

Having this tablet has also proved itself in keeping me entertained, both at home and when travelling. The vast range of apps allow for downloads to suit all ages and personalities at any price range and the book store rivals that of the Kindle for ebook reading. The increasing ability to download e-copies of magazines increases my enthusiasm for the tablet as it stops my bag being weighed down by sereval different magazines.

Ultimately, this is the best purchase I have ever made and would fully recommend buying an iPad to anyone considering one. Yes, it i essentially as glorified toy but it is incredibly useful and increases productivity. A must for any household.

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If this tablet were an athlete - it would be Usain Bolt

I'm showing my age a little when I say that I can remember a time before the internet when computers that could do very little were the size of a room. I am, then, bedazzled by what modern technology can offer, no more so than by the i-Pad 3 which was my first foray into the world of tablets and which I got on release day. It's taken me a while of owning it to work out what its full potential and what I will actually, on a day by day level, do with it. Hopefully my experience will help you decide if you need one - though in all fairness with this product it's more about "want" than "need"; put simply the iPad is the best toy you can ever own. So is the iPad3 in general, and this particular 32GB model worth the £479 price tag? I think that it is; it's not quite perfection but I still am very glad we have one.

As most people will know, and what is instantly obvious once you get your charged iPad out of the box, is that it's all about the 9.7" screen which is both for viewing and the main way of interacting with the device being a touch screen. Apple call it a "retina display", meaning that the human eye at normal viewing range shouldn't be able to detect any pixelation. For the technical minded amongst you Apple say that there are 4 times as many pixels as the iPad 2 (1536 x 2048 resolution). As a normal user all I care about is the fact that, yes, the screen is sharp and the colours are indeed impressive. If, for example I am looking at buying an item online it's far better viewed on the iPad than on my computer screen, I can see more detail and the colours are more true to life. When streaming video from a media player the picture is amazing, though I do find sometimes blacks and darker shades can be a bit hard to distinguish it's good enough to use as a secondary TV screen, when for example I'm in the kitchen. I have used an iPad 2 a little and I would say the difference is noticeable even to a casual user.

It's true also that the iPad 3 is a little thicker and heavier than its previous incarnation, to some people that may be an issue, but it's marginal in my opinion and it's not so heavy that it's uncomfortable to hold in one hand and use for extended lengths of time. In my experience the battery life is very good, it will last for a couple of days with casual use (eg using apps in mute), though crank up the volume and watch video and you will need to recharge within a couple of hours at most and not the "up to ten hours" that Apple claim.

Touching the screen itself is key to the interactivity and addictiveness of the iPad. I find the build quality, as perhaps you would expect at this price tag, to be superb. There are only 4 buttons all told, including the home button which is at the bottom of the screen and which is easily accessible and solid to touch. You probably will use the volume button which is on the side of the tablet but find that the power off and lock are pretty redundant, I only use the power off on the rare times in extensive use that the system has fallen over, as it powers down automatically when the cover (purchasable separately) is closed a button is of little use to me. Simplicity is key here and there's no faulting the design of quality of the buttons, though when in landscape mode, eg to watch TV with the iPad on my cover which acts as a stand, the volume button is just the wrong way round somehow. Ignoring such minor issues, even the back of the iPad is a thing of beauty - this does mean that I've fallen prey to treating the iPad as if it needs wrapping in cotton wool - I wouldn't really use it out of the house partly as I would be wary of damage and partly as it's an expensive item, and I suspect many people would feel the same. This may be pertinent to mention if you are wondering whether to buy a wifi or 3G version of this item, which will be something you and the entire family will probably will want to use a lot. This is mainly as the iPad is intuitive, I've found that even a young child can pick it up and instantly interact and I was somewhat surprised when my 69 year old mother (who still watches video cassettes) confessed to wanting one - the appeal is really that wide.

So what are the best features and having said that it's a beautiful and well made thing what do I, as I suppose an average user, do with the iPad? Ultimately we mainly use it, as I suggested at the start, to play, for pure fun. It was easy to hook up to the wifi and then there is a world of apps at your fingertips. It's simplicity itself to organise and access the apps as you can fill as many home screens as you want, and also there's a bar at the bottom where you can drag up to 6 regularly used apps that will stay on the bottom of every home screen. Though some of the apps are quite memory hungry we haven't found the 32GB to be insufficient - a quick look at my settings (again easy to understand and use) reveals only a third of capacity used. When I swipe between screens it is very quick and smooth indeed and after a bit of use it's easy to organise apps into folders or delete or close them down (holding your finger on them will mean that a little "x" comes up) - it's so simple a child could, and does in this house, manage it. There are plenty of reviews of apps on this site and most people will have used them in one form or another, all I can say is that the wonder of holding up the iPad to the stars and seeing them labelled or interacting with a child's book or the regular feeling that you have been transported to a place where anything is possible is what the iPad gives me. Using the iPad like this is mainly trouble free though on occasions we do get thrown out of apps or find that the iOS 5.1 (operating system) has frozen, this thankfully is rare and though it's a little boring and not really customisable, in the main I like the interface which is equally pleasing whether you are using the iPad in portrait or landscape mode - it quickly works out which and orientates the image accordingly.

We find that we use some of the other features a lot less than the apps. Though undoubtedly the 5mega pixel camera and 1080Hp HD video is fantastic, in actual fact it can only be described as a pig to use - the iPad is just too big to hold and use as a camera with any degree of comfort, even though you can use the volume button to take the pictures, it's a bit near the lens. I have used it but it's less fun than I thought even though it's simpler to edit pictures than, say in microsoft windows, for some reason the reality doesn't really match up to the idea, though being able to put pictures straight to twitter or facebook is a good feature. I don't really find myself videoing with it very much even though playback is superb and also the speakers on the iPad are pretty good. I haven't used facetime, but that facility is there - unlike Siri (the AI helper on iPhone) which isn't, and may be of interest to some. I can't really criticise the iPad3 as a music player or for playing films, though this is a good way of filling up your memory quite quickly.

As well as apps the other main use of the iPad by us, and I assume most people, would be for surfing the net. For this as I've already mentioned in some ways - notably display - the iPad is better than my PC, however it's not all good news. In practice navigating by touch screen can be quite annoying, for example on dooyoo it's easy to miss a small feature of the web page, such as a page number, or hit an ad when you were aiming for something else. In the browser, Safari, I like the "reader" feature which allows any webpage to be viewed as if it were a book page, but typing is a bit of a nightmare if for example you are using facebook. The pop up keyboard on the screen is fine but somehow just a bit annoying. I have had to think about my use of the predictive text feature (customisable in settings) as it's almost *too* clever, and can sometimes get a bit annoying though I am more than satisfied with the speed of browsing, though I'd rather email from my PC and find features such as copy and paste a bit tricky and you can't, of course, view flash through the default browser. It is, however, fantastic to be able to zoom into an element of a web page with just a pinch of the fingers or to scroll with ease as if the page were a physical item. On balance for sofa surfing the ipad 3 is good, but different.

I'm sure the iPad has much more potential than I have unlocked but over months of ownership we've come to find it pretty well indispensable - the kids are pretty horrified that we are leaving it at home for the Summer holidays, it really does fit seamlessly into our life, though it is a terrible eater of time. I have read that some people have trouble with their iPad feeling hot - for us this has not happened and bar the aforementioned rare crashes we have had no technical issues with it at all. I do find the screen gets mucky very quickly (hooray for brasso inventing a cleaning product specifically for this) and you will need to buy some sort of cover for it in my opinion, however overall the iPad is a master class of great design all round.

So then an excellent item to own - I hesitate whether to award it four stars or five as it's not niggle free. It is, undoubtedly however a superb piece of design that is literally world changing - see one in action with someone who is visually impaired, or watch someone who hasn't used an iPad before be instantly won over and it's hard not to feel like it's sci-fi made real and Steve Job's legacy. The iPad is not quite all things to all people, but it's not far off - and I personally wouldn't now want to be without mine with all the slight criticisms I have of it, it's an amazing thing to own.

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The iPad 3 is the best tablet to get in comparison to performance and features.

I recently picked up a brand new iPad 3 from my local Apple store. I have owned several previous models including the original iPad. From the first boot up, I could tell the A5X processor was much more faster than the older models.

Features:

Retina Display: The retina displays makes the iPad look much more sharper, crispier and more lifelike. The colors are much more vivid. The iPad 3 beats all of the other tablets in screen resolution.

Camera: With a newer updated camera from the previous model, it now has a 5 MP iSight camera. iPad has made it very unique with many different features. With advanced optics, face detection, auto white balance, and a backside illumination censor. This camera beats all of the other tablets.

4G LTE: 4G LTE was long waited back when the iPad 2 came out. You can now browse with top speeds and download with high speed internet when you are on the go.

iOS: iOS is Apple's operating system. iOS is the easiest mobile operating ever created. It includes the App Store (Home to 1 million apps) Safari, and much more.

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Brilliant for browsing Internet, accessing emails & for a variety of apps

Due to the euros currently being played and my husband being a football fanatic he treated me to a new iPad 3 and I absolutely love it!! It is my first iPad and since I have had it there has been no need for me to access any other computer! I have used it to do my online shopping, Internet banking, emails and there are so many helpful/fun apps available it is unbelievable!There was no messing around to set it up, I just had to turn it on, connect it to my Internet & to iTunes and away I went! The camera takes good clear quaility photos, I have taken numerous of my newborn baby & 3 year old who loves being able to see himself on the screen using the front camera.Accessing, viewing & sending emails is done easily.Definitely the way forward for accessing the Internet!

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Great

My 2nd generation died on me at the beginning of the year! XD so what was I to do?.....TREAT MYSELF TO THE NEW iPAD3! =D

YAY! I'm so glad I did. It's fab, I can't put it down - i'm on it right now :] Now, obviously my 2nd Gen ipod was getting slow, I couldn't get the latest update for more up to date, popular apps etc and my music was filling it up etc!I love the camera and video capture, I've done nothing but take photos and videos of my pets - and I get to edit them too - although they aren't brilliant edit features (just Enhance, crop, rotate and red eye reduction) but it helps improve the photo alot. Obviously I've downloaded some good photography apps that allows me to do some funky editing.The only thing I don't like about it is the Messages feature. Although this is a good feature I have disabled it as it caused problems with my Texting on my iphone, so whether I'd not got it set up or not I don't know but I had a few problems with texting after I'd used it.The display is crisp and colourful (down to th enew retina display I should imagine XD!) I can't really compare the retina display as I've not had anything with one :) but it's a good screen.I wasn't expecting much from the sound as it's only a tiny speaker but it's good quality.The battery isn't that brilliant either really. I use the pad every day I do a mixture of things: browsing the web, listen to music, play a few games etc and I have to charge it after every use.

AND Angry Birds HD and big screen is FAB & FUN!! =)

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An excellent product

I currently own the iPhone and an iPod and unfortunately the iPod is something I have fallen out of love with and I have begun working more from home recently. Apple has launched their new iPad 3 in March 2012 and it was just an item which appealed to me on many levels.

The iPad has got this ability to make you want it purely for the design and what you can use it for. You have a tablet computer which is easy to use and understand and it seems most people are aware that the iPad is one of the biggest selling tablet computers ever.

This iPad had a few unique features but that is what can confuse people when it comes to making that purchase. The iPad comes in three sizes which are 16GB, 32GB and finally the 64GB models.This iPad uses the same charger as the other Apple devices which are nice to know for many potential new owners and the overall design is just simple and user friendly. Volume controls, cameras and power buttons are scattered around the entire model.

~~ Wi-Fi and 4G? ~~

I chose the option to not have the 4G with my iPad and there were a few reasons for this. The first was the price just to have the 4G capability was going to add an extra £100 to the total cost which I thought was a high amount to pay for an extra feature.

Secondly I was never really going to use this item other than my own home and work which has a Wi-Fi connection open to me. With the 4G model of this item you can go online anywhere in theory as you require a 3G signal. You do need to buy an internet plan from somewhere like O2 which costs you money each month with this model.

In my view if your someone who is going to use this for home life and work purposes you want to try and save money overall and the 4G is there as an option to people who want to go online all the time.

~~ Applications and Camera ~~

When getting the iPad most people are already aware of the various applications you can download for the product. There are a few already on there for you such as YouTube but you can get so much more. I have downloaded Ebay, Facebook and Wikipedia as well. When it comes to using applications the iPad enables you to do so much more than you think you can. With Facebook as my example you can chat to people as you do online but you're also able to put status updates, take photos right there and then and upload them to your profile which for me is extremely handy.

With other applications you are able to sit back and load up auctions for items you want to sell and this again is done via a picture you upload and fill the details in on the iPad so this item enables you to carry out tasks you would normally do on a computer.

The camera is very good a 5MP camera and at first I was nervous as I knew I had the ability to take pictures but this iPad is huge and when you start looking at the amount of space you have to view the photo you have taken it is amazing.

When I take photos I am able to zoom into them and edit them using the iPad with various applications letting me alter the colour or even cropping the picture. I tend to upload the pictures I take directly to Facebook which allows me to show my friends. The quality of the photos and videos this item takes are exceptional and the video quality is high definition.

~~ Using the Internet ~~

The biggest purpose for me to have this item was the fact you can online so easily. You can upload any website you wish but you have two ways to do this. The first is by a keyboard which comes on the touchscreen and you can touch the various letters and type in websites.

The second option is by using the voice controller so you say what you want to search for in a search engine and this is meant to show what you have said in the search box. This option is not that great and I have tried several various voices to try and make it find the basic items and occasionally it works and other times it displays random words.

The idea behind the voice controller I think is to assist people so if you have to search for a rather long worded item or you cannot spell it correctly you just say it and this should put up the word in the search box. The problem is the words can get mistyped and you end up with a problem.I personally find the option of using the keyboard display easier and you're less likely to make silly errors as the voice controller makes very often.

~~ Retina Display, Sound and Battery ~~

The retina display is something I have got used to using the iPhone and the best part about the retina display is that ability to zoom into various writing on the screen but also the ability to make the words follow you.

When I visit some websites or play on the applications I have got I tend to find myself moving the screen around to fit the words better so the screen is able to offer me more. I like how you're able to zoom into pictures very closely but also using a magnifying glass to focus on particular words more closely and this has assisted me many times as my eyesight is not the best.

The sound levels are excellent and my computer is nowhere near as good as the iPad is when it comes to how loud the volume is. I have played music on this item and watched clips offline and they have always had excellent sound which again is excellent for a tablet computer.

The battery life is what makes me shout out the most because it lasts for ages. I tend to leave my iPad on and just close the lid I have on this case and I left it the other day for over 12 hours and the battery life had just dropped by 4%.

I found myself wondering what it would do if I had it on for hours at a time and I was online the other day over 3 hours and the battery life hardly moved. They state the battery life is around 10 hours and that is very accurate indeed.

~~ Accessories ~~

When I got this item I had to find out where to buy items which would protect the screen from scratching as I had this happen in the past with previous Apple products.I got some screen protectors which were very easy to find from virtually anywhere online and prices vary but unfortunately they take forever to get in the correct position and they are also very difficult to remove the bubbles from as well.

In terms of what are good items for the iPad you have the little pens to use so it saves you using your fingers on the touchscreen and I have a couple of these and they are excellent items with a piece of soft rubber at the end and let you use the iPad quicker in my view.

You have leather sleeves to protect the product from outside dust and dirt and you have many leather stands which fold over and let you use the iPad at various angles so you're not always looking down on the item all the time.

I have yet to find a decent bag to put the item into but in terms of what there is for it with various colours to own and decorate the IPad and you can have it engraved on the Apple website with your own name if you wish as well.

~~ My Personal Experience ~~

When I first got the iPad I was nervous with it because to be fair it was so thin and yet you knew it was so expensive. I paid just over £400 for my model as I had a local deal with the store and I found myself wondering whether I would use it that often to warrant the money I spent on it.The first 2 weeks I had this item I was never away from it because I was using it for the internet all the time but more then that I used it for pictures and making people view the photos I had taken. I found it easy to do everything I wanted to do.

The camera was so easy to use and I guess due to my past experiences using the iPhone I could easily claim it would be easy for anyone to use but for me it was. I gave this to my mother who found it very easy to use and she is not the best when it comes to any sort of gadget.

The pictures I took came out with exceptional detail and what else I loved was the applications I paid for on my iPhone I could upload to the iPad so it saved me paying out for them again. Not many people were aware of this feature and to be fair I was not either.

I found applications looking excellent, the depth of detail when watching videos and looking at pictures exceptional. My Wi-Fi in the house on this iPad is so fast it would appear it was connected all the time and I found that another brilliant part of this item.Downloading applications was very quick as well and the size of the item was so good you could view everything with ease.

~~ Final Summary ~~

In terms of what the iPad offers and for the value it is debatable as to whether this suits everyone. The price for the iPad I got was reasonable but some of the prices are exceptional for a small memory machine.

You can listen to music, watch movies, take pictures and do everything you can do on a computer except a few things of course. You have the internet there and in terms of the memory you should not really use it all.

I have 32GB memory and I have over 500 songs, 1450 pictures and about 80 applications and I have lots of memory left and if you do run out you can delete pictures of you could save them to your computer and store them away.

This in my view is an excellent item which has plenty of good points going for it and there is nothing to complain about except the potential scratching problems if you do not protect the screen well enough.

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An amazing tablet and has made me an Apple convert

I have resisted buying an iPad since they first came out because I had an iPod touch and although I loved the actual touch I hated with a passion the fact that I was so reliant on iTunes for all my content. I bought my first tablet which was a Samsung galaxy tab 7, then I upgraded to a Blackberry playbook which didn't last long mainly due to the fact it had no decent apps available for it and then when deciding on which tablet to buy myself I finally decided to just give in and buy an iPad and I am so glad I did as I absolutely love it.

~~~~~ The New Apple iPad ~~~~~

The new Apple ipad is the tablet's 3rd incarnation and was released in the UK on Friday March 16th and I was lucky enough to get mine on the release day instead of having to wait a few weeks for stocks to replenish.

For anyone who is familiar with the iPad 2 the iPad 3 isn't a huge upgrade on what came before it in terms of looks and it still has the gorgeous curved styling of its predecessor and side by side there are only a few small changes to distinguish them. Most of the changes come in the form of upgrades to the inside of the iPad making it faster and more powerful.

The new iPad is available in a variety of different storage sizes which are 16GB, 32GB and 64GB and you can get these in either WI-FI only or Wi-FI and 3G. I picked the 32GB WI-FI only version as I didn't feel I needed to pay the extra £100 for the 3G version as my phone acts as a mobile hotspot and besides I didn't want to be forking out extra every month on a data plan.

Obviously the higher the storage the more you are going to pay with the lowest 16GB WI-FI only model costing £399, the 32GB version costing £479 and the 64GB version costing £559. For 3G add £100 on top of each of the prices.

Power is provided by a dual core A5 chip which Apple say is capable of giving the iPad quad core graphics. There is also 1GB of RAM to make everything run smoothly.

~~~~~ Design ~~~~~

I have always been a fan of Apple's design and the new iPad is no exception. I think it is absolutely gorgeous looking and it doesn't have the cheap look and feel to it that so many other tablets have. It is basically a rectangular shape with a thick bezel of either glossy white or black running the whole length of the screen. Around the back it is made of aluminium and slightly curved. It is very minimal in its design with only the barest minimum of buttons on it. There is the home button which is positioned right in the middle of the bottom part of the bezel then there are only the on/off button on top and to the side the volume rockers and mute button. Other than buttons there is only a small lens for the backwards facing camera and upfront a tiny pin prick hole which is the front facing camera used for video chats.

~~~~~ The screen ~~~~~

The screen on the new iPad is the most impressive feature for me personally. The screen is 9.7 inches and Apple have given this newest iPad a Retina upgrade. This just means that they have packed in a huge amount of pixels into the screen. 1536x2048 is the exact number. This means that the iPad is now a proper HD tablet capable of playing even 1080p video as it is meant to be seen.

To me personally it isn't quite as nice as the screen on my Samsung Galaxy S2 smartphone but this is mainly due to the fact that it just isn't quite as bright and vivid but it is still stunning and the amazing thing about it is that there is absolutely no pixilation on anything. Even when I zoom right into text or a picture I can't see even the slightest hint of a pixel and everything looks so clear and smooth that I could easily forget that I was looking at an electronic screen.

I also find that viewing angles are excellent so that when I am browsing the internet or watching a film I can see all the action even without having to position it at a certain angle. I can also make out everything on screen even outside though I do have to make sure that I have brightness turned up to maximum.

The only problem with the screen is that it is a magnet for fingerprints even though it is supposed to have a finger print resistant coating and within a few minutes of using the iPad it is already covered in them which is a bit of a pain as the smudges from my fingers does distract me when I am trying to concentrate on something on screen.

~~~~~ Media ~~~~~

The iPad is designed to be used as a multi-media machine and this is basically what I am using it for. I am not using it as a replacement for my laptop (though there are some excellent apps which does make the need for a laptop less and I can see in a couple of years tablets making desktops and laptops obsolete) but I am finding that I am using my iPad for a lot of things I used to rely on my laptop for.

Internet is one of the main things I am using the iPad for instead of my laptop. Performance is really fast and web pages load up just as quick and sometimes a lot quicker than they do on my laptop and they look excellent on the screen. I find that the screen size is almost perfect for the internet and I very rarely have the need to zoom in to read what is on the screen which is something I hate having to do on my mobile. The on board Safari browser is user friendly and I find that it fits my needs fine as I am able to have multiple tabs open at once and go back and forth between sites easily and bookmark all my favourite content. There are several options for other browsers in the app store though if you decide that you want to use a different one. I have read in some reviews about the new iPad that some people were complaining about the WI-FI reception but in my experience I have had no problems with the iPad being able to pick up my signal and in fact it can pick up the signal further away than I can with my laptop. It also doesn't lose the signal very often either.

I have loaded up a few HD movies to my iPad and several television shows to watch when I am away from home and these look amazing on the screen. There is still the old problem I remember from when I had my iPod touch with having to convert everything to be able to watch them on the included media player as Apple still hasn't bothered to make their products media friendly and they only support a few formats and not even the most popular ones like Xvids. It is a total pain to convert videos and it takes absolutely ages to do it but I have got around this by downloading a different media player from the app store which supports all sorts of files so I can now just drag and drop my videos into the media player in iTunes and they are put almost instantly onto my iPad for viewing whenever I want.

Music is done through iTunes and this is still one of Apples strongest points. You can either buy your music from iTunes or else import your CD collection. You can also play your own music files you might already have on your computer as long as they aren't DRM protected. This is all easy to do and music sounds excellent on the iPad.

One of my favourite things about the iPad is iBooks. This is an app that allows you to read books and magazines on your iPad. I have a kindle which I still use for heavy reading as the E-ink is better for my eyes but I have several books and magazines already on the iPad and I use it loads for when I am travelling on the train etc. I love the way my books look on the app and they appear on a shelf which does make them look really good and it is so easy to find the one that I want. They also look lovely when reading them either in landscape or portrait mode and I like the fact that when my iPad is in portrait mode the screen mimics an actual book with double pages. iBooks can also read PDF files which is how most magazines come and these get their own shelf. It is great to be able to load up a few magazines and be able to read them whenever I want. They look great and swiping between pages is really smooth. Again you can either buy books and magazines straight from Apple or else you can add your own as long as they aren't DRM protected and this is simple to do from iTunes.

You can find almost any kind of game you want for the iPad and Apples claim that it offers quad core graphics looks to be correct as there are some amazingly complicated games available. There is of course the basic games like angry birds which are fun and kill time but you can also buy games such as Infinity Blade 2 which really make use of the Retina display and look as good as any game on a console. The only problem that I personally have is some of these graphic heavy games also have complicated controls and I can't really get my head around playing them on a touch screen even though the controls on the iPad are the best I have ever used.

~~~~~ iTunes and the app store ~~~~~

Content is really where Apple have the edge over everyone else in my opinion. Unlike with my Saumsung and definitely with my Blackberry no matter what I want I can find it on the app store. There are literally hundreds of thousands of apps to choose from and there are some amazing apps in there. Getting them on the iPad is also simple as it just involves me going to the app store from my iPad and downloading the app. This doesn't take long and is pretty much idiot proof. The stores are also a revelation for me compared to the mess of the google android store. Everything is laid out in an easy to use way and the search function is great. I can check on what popular apps are available and what other people are buying and it really is a joy to use.

One of the reasons that I resisted getting an iPad for so long was that I remembered iTunes being such a hassle to use and how restrictive it was. It seems that it has been much improved since then and I am finding it to be much more user friendly and more streamlined than before with it being much easier to add my own content without having to purchase everything direct from Apple.

~~~~~ Battery and performance ~~~~~

I am finding the battery life to be amazing so far. I probably use my iPad for about 2 to 3 hours a day and I can manage about 3 days without having to charge it up. Obviously if you are using it all day then you are probably going to have to charge it every night but when the iPad is in sleep mode it uses practically no battery power so when I forget to charge it overnight I know that I am still going to have enough juice to get me through the day. Once it does need charged though I find that it takes absolutely ages to charge fully. Probably about 5 or 6 hours from flat to fully charged which is annoying as I would like it if Apple had done something to the battery to make it charge quicker.

Performance is excellent and I can have several apps open at once and I have never once noticed it lag or struggle to keep up even when playing the most graphically demanding games. Video runs smooth with no juddering and so far I have yet to find anything that is too demanding for it to handle.

~~~~~ Other features ~~~~~

There are so many features on the new iPad that I could easily write another 5000 words on it but as nobody wants to know all the geek things it can do I will try and stick to the main points. On the back there is a 5 mega pixel camera which does a fairly decent job of taking snaps but to be honest who is really going to use a tablet of this size for taking pictures. It is handy to have in a pinch but not something I personally consider to be important. Much more useable is the front facing camera for video chats. The iPad is perfect for video chatting but unfortunately the camera is really low quality and I wish Apple had put a better on there.

A neat little feature is dictation which I think I am right in saying is new to the iPad 3. This is a feature which you tap when the onscreen keyboard is up and instead of typing you just dictate to the microphone and the iPad will type what you say. In theory this sounds great and I have had some fun using it but more often than not it doesn't catch 100% of what I say and I do have to use the keyboard to correct it. Perhaps this is to do with me being Scottish but if they can just refine this a little I can see this being a fantastic selling point for the iPad especially for lazy typers like me.

Talking of the onscreen keyboard it is a pleasure to use and is really accurate and after using it a couple of days I got quite fast on it and now I have no trouble knocking out a long email really quickly with it. I am still going to buy myself a physical keyboard at some point but because the virtual one is so good there is no desperate rush.

~~~~~ Conclusion ~~~~~

I am completely in love with my iPad. I love my gadgets and this has gone straight to the top of the pile as far as genuine usability goes. I use it every day without fail and it isn't one of those things that you buy and then use for a couple of days before putting it in a drawer and forgetting about it. Sure there isn't anyone who actually needs an iPad but it is one of those items that once you have you will wonder why you didn't get one earlier.

There is absolutely nothing that would stop me highly recommending the new iPad to people other than probably the price which I personally don't think is bad when you compare it to what most tablets are selling for. It can get slightly uncomfortable when holding it outstretched for long periods of time but I get around this by just laying it on my lap. You might have read about people complaining about the iPad heating up and I can confirm that it does get warm on the back after using it for prolonged periods of time. However it is only a slight warming and it is never hot and certainly isn't uncomfortable so I have no idea what people are complaining about.

If you can afford one then I really do recommend buying this over a cheaper one as from my experience it has been so much better to use and does absolutely everything that I think I could want in a tablet. One last piece of advice that I could give to people who are considering buying the new iPad is to get one with as much storage as you can afford as unfortunately due to the beautiful Retina display the apps are bigger and HD movies take up a lot of room. I was originally going to get the 16GB as I thought this would be enough for me but I'm glad I went for the 32GB as you will want s many apps and it really does start to fill up fast.